Joni and Friends Family Retreats offer hope in the midst of hardship and despair.
Hi, I’m Joni with a powerful story about Family Retreat.
You’ve heard me say it before, but it is so heartbreaking that it bears repeating. Thousands of families are breaking apart and marriages are dissolving, all because of the brutal demands of disability. The endurance needed, year after year, to care for a family member with a significant disability, it’s a labor of love that few can understand. For many families struggling with disability, the pain can just be too much to bear. Isolation and hopelessness leave people teetering on the brink of depression. Take Warren and his family.
Five years ago, Warren was the victim of a robbery. When the thugs pumped multiple gunshot wounds into his back, Warren’s spinal cord was irreparably damaged, and instantly, he became a paraplegic and then he struggled with blood clots in his brain. After having a stroke, surgeons needed to cut Warren’s skull open in order to drain fluid and allow for healing. Before this horrific tragedy, Warren used to be the older brother who cared for his younger siblings, Justin and his sister Waveney. Now, little brother and little sister, they’re the ones taking care of Warren. Like a dense fog, depression and discouragement settled in over their small home. How were they going to make it? They didn’t know any other families like theirs.
Well, thankfully, help was on the way. Someone told them about our Family Retreat. And when Warren and his brother and sister heard about the hope and inspiration, all the fun and many activities, well their eyes got wide in anticipation, but there was no way they could afford to come. Well, thankfully, more help was on the way in the form of scholarships for the entire family. We wanted to make certain that Warren and Justin and Waveney were free to come and be blessed. And, oh my goodness, blessed they were!
Justin, the little brother, said, “Family Retreat [has brought] me and my sister and brother closer together. It [got us] out in nature. We hiked in the creek and went in the canoe. We haven’t been out in nature like this in ten years.” And then, if that weren’t enough, Family Retreat also brought Warren and his siblings closer to Jesus. As Warren’s volunteer told us, he said, “You know, Warren [is just one of those guys who never pictured himself as living in a wheelchair]. He has had a lot of suffering in his life. But coming [to retreat?] Being around God’s people and God’s Word and the Lord’s presence? I can attest to the fact that Warren really found the light of Christ here at Family Retreat.” Even Warren told us that before Family Retreat, he had been held back by the trauma surrounding the tragic events of that terrible day when he was shot. But at retreat, he told us, “I [now know] that there is a God. I know that he is real. Here at this retreat, [God] turned me all the way around and now I have hope. God is great. I never would’ve said that before. But he’s great. At Family Retreat, my injury doesn’t hold me back!”
Friend, you’ve just got to see photos of Warren and his brother and sister, and I’ve posted a few on my radio page today at Joniradio.org. And, hey, find out how you can help a family like Warren’s this summer by volunteering! You can also sign up for our electronic newsletter to see firsthand how the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. It’s all there for you, all the hope and inspiration at Joniradio.org. Oh, and one more thing, I want to send you a copy of our Joni and Friends newsletter, so just go to joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends